Office 365, one of the public cloud-based services offered by Microsoft, is a software as a service (SaaS) suite that includes not only the personal computer versions of Office, but also mobile versions and the server services needed to connect them. If you’re ready to learn more about Office 365, this chapter from Microsoft Public Cloud Services: Setting up your business in the cloud will give you a great overview.

Introduction to Office 365

Under the hood of Office 365

Find the right subscription

Sign in for the first time

Explore the Office 365 Admin Center

Configure a custom domain

Add, edit, and delete user accounts

Work with files

Use Office Mobile on all your devices

Introduction to Office 365

Microsoft Office has long offered a range of applications to boost productivity. These include the following:

Word Microsoft Word is a word-processor program. It’s ideal for generating documents of all kinds.

Excel Microsoft Excel is a program for handling spreadsheets. You can use spreadsheets to store and analyze data in tabular form, which makes them ideal for handling accounting and bookkeeping tasks.

PowerPoint If your business requires you to create slideshows or presentations, you’ll appreciate the many robust and built-in features of Microsoft PowerPoint.

OneNote With Microsoft OneNote, you can gather notes—even ones that are handwritten—drawings, screen clips, and audio files into one easy-to-access place. It’s great for brainstorming or just keeping track of ideas.

Access Microsoft Access is a database management system. If you need to track data for your business, you can use Access to do it.

Publisher With the Microsoft Publisher desktop-publishing application, users can quickly and easily design marketing materials like brochures, business cards, news-letters, calendars, and more.

Office 365 is like Office, except it expands its domain from the personal computer to the cloud. Office 365, one of the public cloud-based services offered by Microsoft, is a software as a service (SaaS) suite that includes not only the personal computer versions of Office, but also mobile versions and the server services needed to connect them. With Office 365, you can use the familiar applications you’ve probably run on your PC for years—Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, and in some cases, depending on which subscription option you choose, Outlook, OneNote, Access, and Publisher—to save, edit, and modify documents in the cloud. In addition, you can store the files you create in Microsoft OneDrive for Business, which is included with the bundle. (You’ll learn more about OneDrive for Business in Chapter 3, “Store your files in the cloud with OneDrive for Business.”)

MICROSOFT VIRTUAL ACADEMY

Get more information about Office 365 fundamentals at aka.ms/go-mva/o365fund.

Some subscription models of Office 365 also include the following:

Yammer Yammer collaboration software is like a private social network. You can use Yammer to get connected to the right people, share information across teams, and organize around projects so you can go further, faster. With Yammer, collaboration just happens—even on the go. Yammer helps your company work like a network so you can listen, adapt, and grow in new ways.

Office 365 Video Office 365 Video is a website portal where people in your organization can post and view videos. Essentially, it’s a streaming video service for your organization. Videos can be organized by channel. For example, you might have one channel for a specific group or department and another for a particular subject.

Of course, individual users can optimize their productivity by using the top-notch applications that Office 365 offers. But the power of Office 365 really lies in its support for collaboration and the sharing of information. With Office 365, teams can work together, tracking tasks, project timelines, documents, and emails all from one centralized place. If you’re ready to learn more about Office 365—what it’s god for and how to set it up—read on!

IMPORTANT

A detailed overview of the ins and outs of the various Office 365 applications—for example, Word and Excel—is beyond the scope of this book. Instead, this chapter will focus on getting you set up to use Office 365.

Skype for Business

Another program, Skype for Business, has recently been updated to work seamlessly with Office 365. With Skype for Business, previously known as Microsoft Lync, users can make calls online—including international calls—by using almost any device. Instant messaging is also supported. For more information, go to www.skype.com/en/business.